This is more of a stat question than rules. How is it determined who wins a face off? I always believed the winner was whichever team had control of the ball when the ref called possession. However, I have heard other interpretations such as whoever has "offensive possession", but that is a pretty vague description. This would also discount a win if the team had definitive possession in their defensive side but then turned it over. Does anybody know for sure or is it mainly just interpretations of what the rule book says?

Face off possession

See Appendix II in the NCAA rule book on record keeping. It covers pretty much all of what you're asking:

NCAA Appendix II wrote:Faceoff—The standard of faceoff statistics is to award the faceoff to thefaceoff specialist (when his team gains possession of the ball), regardlessof whether he actually gained possession himself. A faceoff shouldbe awarded to a team only when it gets a clear offensive or defensiveopportunity out of the play.Note: As stated in Appendix II-h, ground balls should be awarded infaceoff play.

A.R. 9. A1 faces off for his team. He obtains the ball in the faceoff situation but theball is immediately checked away. B1 picks up the ground ball and his team maintainspossession of the ball. STATISTICAL RULING: Credit faceoff to Team B.

A.R. 10. A1 controls the ball on the faceoff, retreats into the defensive half of the field,closely guarded, and throws the ball away. STATISTICAL RULING: If Team B canobtain possession of the ball and keep it, credit Team B with the faceoff. Similarly, ifTeam A subsequently obtains possession of the ball and keeps it, credit Team A with thefaceoff.

A.R. 11. Same situation as A.R. 10, but A1 advances the ball to his offensive half of thefield, closely guarded, and throws the ball away. STATISTICAL RULING: Same asA.R. 10.

A.R. 12. The ball goes out of bounds on the faceoff before a team obtains possessionof the ball. STATISTICAL RULING: Credit the team that is awarded the ball on theout-of-bounds play with a faceoff. If neither team is awarded the ball out of bounds, delaythe crediting of the faceoff until the subsequent re-face is concluded.

A.R. 13. Before either team can obtain the faceoff, a player on either team is charged witha foul. STATISTICAL RULING: Credit the offended team with the faceoff, if oneteam gets the ball. In the case of a double foul, or any other violation requiring a re-faceof the ball, wait to credit the faceoff until the play is complete.

A.R. 14. A goal is scored near the end of the period. STATISTICAL RULING: Ifthere is no subsequent faceoff, no faceoff can be credited statistically. If a faceoff occurs,award the faceoff as judgment allows by determining the possession (or something closeto it) when the period ends.

A.R. 15. A period ends in an uneven situation such that there will be no faceoff to startthe next period. STATISTICAL RULING: Do not award a faceoff.

A.R. 16. If there should be an extra faceoff for any reason, credit the faceoff accordingto the preceding rules.

Thanks, that does help. Although, I think the world "clear" is a little subjective. I can see how if the FO guy throws the ball out right away (on either end) it could be rewarded to the other team. But, after how much time or how many passes does it become a "clear" possession. That's when it seems to get a little grey.

I got an email from a friend who was watching the Loyola-Fairfield game on TV yesterday, and he was watching this faceoff play. I copied and pasted part of his email to which I was not sure how to respond to his question:

there was a face off.

Fairfield grabbed the ball first but lost control, and Loyola grabbed the loose ball, but lost it again, and Fairfield grabbed the ball and lost it again - a wild melee where no one was able to get control of the ball and there was a pile up. The referee blew the whistle to stop the play.

Brent Burns wrote:I got an email from a friend who was watching the Loyola-Fairfield game on TV yesterday, and he was watching this faceoff play. I copied and pasted part of his email to which I was not sure how to respond to his question:

there was a face off.

Fairfield grabbed the ball first but lost control, and Loyola grabbed the loose ball, but lost it again, and Fairfield grabbed the ball and lost it again - a wild melee where no one was able to get control of the ball and there was a pile up. The referee blew the whistle to stop the play.

Who won the faceoff?????

How would this be ruled?

Well if Fairfield "grabbed the ball first" and the refs indicated "Posession!" - FU won the faceoff. What transpired after that would consist of defensive strips and ground balls, followed by a loose-ball technical foul call.

laxfan25 wrote:Well if Fairfield "grabbed the ball first" and the refs indicated "Posession!" - FU won the faceoff. What transpired after that would consist of defensive strips and ground balls, followed by a loose-ball technical foul call.

You obviously missed:

"A faceoff should be awarded to a team only when it gets a clear offensive or defensive opportunity out of the play. "

Also, see:

NCAA Appendix II wrote:Ground balls should be awarded as part of the faceoffplay; however, a ground ball is not always awarded when an officialsignals possession on a faceoff play, since his definition of possessiondoes not rise to the standard of that of a ground ball.